I haven't seen the term existential used this much since my literature classes in University. Here are some of the headlines:
The existential crisis you should be having...
Triple crisis of pipelines, pesticides and pandemic is an existential threat to...
The response to the coronavirus pandemic holds some critical lessons for the other existential crisis facing the planet: climate change.
California public transit services face existential crisiswith COVID-19 pandemic...
The MBTA faces "existential" long-term budget challenges as the pandemic's impact on revenue...
NYC's urban model faces existential crisis in post-pandemic world
Pushing mid- and small-sized hospitals into existential crisis ..
We hear the term so much, but what is an Existential crises? It is when individuals question whether their lives have meaning, purpose, or value. There are four key areas: death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness, according to definitions.
Perhaps it is mostly death and isolation that has taken centre stage in the pandemic. However, there's a second word showing up a lot: Nihilism. This is the philosophy where all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. The definition says that it is associated with extreme pessimism and radical skepticism that condemns existence. A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no loyalties, and no purpose other than, perhaps, an impulse to destroy. We know who is being associated with this philosophy:
Trump Toys With a Let-Them-Die Response to the Pandemic ...Do we embrace therapeutic nihilism and just shrug our shoulders in the face of a pandemic, hoping that it will quickly extinguish itself?
The nihilism of Mitch McConnell ... more money to state and local governments as they are dealing with the fiscal catastrophe of the pandemic.
I think that the Police Brutality/Black Lives Matter movement has overpowered the pandemic existentialism crisis. I interpret this to be a war for freedom and meaningfulness. So while I thought existentialism might drift off, it now seems it will be more and more in the news.
We're back to Marion Jarvie's garden in Toronto, with a few more views.
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